Page 16 of Winter Love

“Nothing is going to happen to you. I won’t let this asshole touch one hair on your head,” I whisper as I hold her tight.

“Do you know who this could be?”

Emma starts to visibly shake. Who the fuck has touched my girl? I’m going to fucking kill him.

“Tell me, baby. I’ve got you now, you don’t ever have to be afraid of anyone.”

“I-I dated a guy named William Rockton. It was only for a few months, we broke up because he hit me. The first time I forgave him, and he swore he wouldn’t do it again. But he did, so I had to walk away. And I never saw or spoke to him again. It’s been a year and a half now.” She sobs.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask, holding her tight.

“Because even though we weren’t together, I knew that if I told you, you would come and find him. I didn’t want you to get into trouble because of me.”

“Emmanuelle Rousseau. Look at me, love. You’re absolutely right. I would’ve been on the first flight out there and I would’ve killed him for putting his hands on you. And if this is him? I’m still going to. And I have a feeling our new friends won’t have a problem helping me do it.”

“You-you’re not mad at me?”

“Why would I be mad at you? You did nothing wrong. Forgiving someone isn’t a fault. That’s being a caring human being. You also knew that when he did it again, you needed to leave. You’re a strong woman. My strong woman. I love you and I will protect you for the rest of our lives. I need to call Lorenzo and let him know they need to check on this William guy.”

I hold onto my Emma as I make a group call with Lorenzo, Sebastiano and Francesco.

“Hey, what’s up? I have some info. But you first,”Francesco says.

“I just talked to Emma and she has an ex that she dated for about three months. He was abusive and she left him. Hasn’t had any contact with him for over a year and a half.”

“What’s his name?”Sebastiano asks.

“William Rockton.”

“Fuck. That’s who that number is registered to. You need to be careful, he has a record. He’s got serious issues,”Francesco says.

“We’re going to send some of our guys to you. They’ll be there in a day or two. In fact, I’ll have a few fly out today. This guy worries me that much,”Sebastiano tells us.

“I’ll text you the names of everyone coming. Can you get them rooms at the resort? And I’d also feel better if some of them could stay with you at your home.”

“I can do all of that. And I can have three to four of them at my place.”

“Be careful. This guy is a serious threat. I don’t know how Emma met him, but we’ll help you take care of him. I’ll text you in a few,”Lorenzo says as we all hang up.

After I hang up, I tell Emma what we talked about. Then I text my siblings to come and meet Emma and me in the break room. I need to tell them what’s going on.

“Are you okay with them knowing what happened to you?” I ask Emma.

“I’m okay. If it’s going to help keep everyone safe? They should know everything.”

I kiss her as we wait for my siblings to get in.

“What’s going on?” Paxton asks.

“I need you to all sit down. There’s something serious going on and I’m going to let Emma tell you some of it.”

We all sit and listen to Emma tell us about that douchebag William. Felicity starts crying as she hears what Emma went through. It’s taking every ounce of restraint to stay sitting and not stomp out of here to look for this fucker. He put his hands on my Emma, I don’t fucking care that she wasn’t with me then. She’s always been mine and always will be.

Lorenzo: Okay, we have quite a few guys coming to you. Some will be flying in and will be there in six hours. We just need you to pick us up at the airport. The rest will drive in and be there in two days

Lukas: Thank you. How many and who’s flying in?

Lorenzo: Flying: my papa Enea, my zio Leonardo and my zio Antonio. Giacomo Bastianini, he’s Celestino’s papa. Sebastiano, Francesco and Salvatore. Driving: Mitchell, Armando, Carmelo, Noah, Galen and Celestino. We’ll tell you more when we get in

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